Recipe: Soy-Glazed Cedar Plank Salmon with Broccoli Rice

On Friday, with Portland’s high temperatures shooting up to over 80 degrees, we decided it was time to pull the cover off the grill and get grilling season kicked off. But what to grill?

During the pandemic, we’ve been good about planning meals ahead and doing our shopping online with curbside pickup once a week, to minimize exposure to COVID-19. We didn’t want to risk going into the grocery store just because we wanted to grill on a whim. So we brainstormed our options based on what we already had on hand.

We have a couple standing freezers that are well-stocked with various meat and fish options, as well as a variety frozen veggies. We also keep staples like onions and rice on hand in our pantry. When Dave suggested salmon, I remembered a Real Simple recipe we used to make regularly, and had adapted for the grill (and to increase the amount of yummy, yummy glaze). Here’s our version…

Soy-Glazed Cedar Plank Salmon with Broccoli Rice
Servings: 3

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1.5 cups long-grain white rice
• 1 head broccoli, florets only, chopped (about 2 cups)
• 3 pieces skinless salmon fillet (1 pounds total)
• 1 large red onion, cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper

Step 1: Soak cedar grilling plank in water for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the grill and cut up the broccoli and onion.

Step 2: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and soy sauce. Set aside.

Step 3: Cook the rice according to the package directions, stirring in the broccoli during the last 3 minutes.

Step 4: Let the rice and broccoli stand off the heat until the broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.

Step 5: Meanwhile, place the salmon and onion on the cedar plank. Drizzle with the oil and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Step 6: Grill until the salmon is opaque throughout, 8 to 10 minutes, spooning about a third of the soy sauce glaze over the fish and onions during the last few minutes of cooking.

Step 7: Serve the salmon and onion with the broccoli rice and the remaining glaze.